Last updated July 2023

There are a variety of penalties applied to social security payments if a person does not comply with their activity-test requirements. For example, penalties may be applied if a person fails to:

  • comply with a requirement to enter into an employment pathway plan
  • attend an appointment required to comply with their employment pathway plan (a ‘no show no pay’ failure)
  • comply with another condition of their employment pathway plan (e.g. a person fails to undertake the required number of job searches or to keep a record of their job searches).

Centrelink must notify the person about their failure to comply and the potential consequence of a penalty amount being deducted or their payment not being payable for a period, and must afford some opportunity for the person to reconnect.

Penalties can include an immediate non-payment until a person contacts Centrelink, a deduction of a penalty amount from their fortnightly payment or a suspension of payment for a set period.

If a person commits a ‘serious failure’ by, for example, persistently failing to comply with their obligations (excluding any failures that were outside the person’s control) or by refusing or failing to accept an offer for paid work that is suitable to them, their payment will not be payable to them for a period of eight weeks.

What to do if a penalty is applied

The first step for a person to take where a penalty is imposed is to get in contact with their employment service to reschedule any activities or appointments. If that does not resolve the problem, the payment recipient should contact Centrelink to provide a reasonable excuse as to why they were unable to complete their requirements.

If a person does not agree with a penalty imposed by Centrelink, they should request an appeal (within 13 weeks to preserve their rights to arrears). This is prudent as even having three minor failures within a six-month period can lead to an eight-week non-payment period.